What I’m experimenting with: Maximizing microbiome diversity by maximizing vegetable diversity. Historically, our hunter gatherer ancestors would have eaten a wide range of vegetable fibers on a daily basis. Both the quantity of vegetable fiber and the diversity of vegetable fiber would have been much greater than most Americans currently eat, but Dr. Datis Kharrazian, who researches and teaches about autoimmunity, argues that diversity is even more important than quantity if we are going to support our microbiome. He suggests eating a Veggie Mash Up that consists of 20-30 different organic vegetables (everything from culinary herbs to root vegetables to mushrooms, celery, asparagus etc.), combined in a food processor, and eaten daily. Start with a teaspoon and work up to a couple of tablespoons. You can make big batches and freeze in ice cube trays. Here’s a discussion in a podcast with  Dr. K in an interview with Phoenix Helix. Spring through fall, I easily get my varied vegetable fiber intake by wandering the garden and nibbling on mint, arugula, a green bean, a radish etc while I harvest things to put on the dinner table. In the winter, I have to try harder and I think it’s time to try a Veggie Mash-Up!. What’s in bloom: Kale, Winterbor hybrid  OK, this isn’t really a flower, but it does look pretty in the winter garden. Kale is very easy to grow, but does attract cabbage moths. Thankfully, those are easily controlled with the organic treatments such as Monterey Garden Spray which is made from soil bacteria.